I went to a conference on Thursday that was focused on women in leadership. They had different backgrounds, both professionally and personally. These women were passionate, driven, successful in their careers, and genuinely enjoyed their work. Another major commonality among them: they were the household breadwinners. Most either had a stay-at-home husband or were single/divorced. There wasn’t much of a spectrum when it came to the household. …

A one sentence summary of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking: “If you know what information is important and what to ignore, use your experience, recognize any bias you may have, and take a couple extra seconds if you need, then your snap decision could be as good as – or better than – a lengthy analysis.”

I took a StrengthsFinder course through my employer, which presented the information in the first part of the book and then had activities for developing talents. I bought StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath (it’s essentially a companion to the test) after attending the course. The most useful piece of this book is the code to take the StrengthsFinder assessment online for yourself, and most of the other information is available through the Gallup website. The biggest thing I gleaned from the course and the book was to stop wasting time trying to develop talents that are not innate, and to instead focus on my talents I do have.

Practice what you preach! Our work has a leadership development program, and applications come out once per year. I was not accepted last year (there were only 15 spots for over 80 applicants, and yes, I was completely and utterly crushed), but I’m determined to apply again this year. It’s a great opportunity to develop my leadership skills and network with peers in a similar situation. As such, I have spent the weekend working on my application instead of writing a new post. I wanted to share a snippet, which should clear up some confusion about why I’ve been so busy lately! …

“When I grow up, I want to… *crickets.*” This is one of the hardest questions to answer. It seems like no one is working in the field they earned their degree in anymore. Who knows how long a career in a certain field will even last? With all the positions you’ve held, what has your career path even been? And how do you find the job you really want? …

Happy Earth Day (on April 22)! It was founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970. His goal was to channel the energy inspired by the student anti-war movement, and 20 million Americans from various backgrounds rallied together in protest of the way the environment was being treated. In honor of Earth Day and the environment, consider adding a new plant to your desk, whether it’s in an office or in your home. …

As you advance in your career, the onus will be on you to call the shots. Sometimes, that involves rejecting perfectly good applicants from a program they are overqualified for. In these situations, it’s really important to remember how you felt in the past so that you can help them move forward in the future. …

The best thing you can do for yourself is to increase your efficiency by developing some new habits to make things easier. You will be faster and will expend less energy to accomplish your daily tasks because many aspects of your life will be on auto pilot. It saves your brain space for new and more fun things. …

Part of knowing yourself is knowing your motivations and your strengths. I’m an “Achiever,” so “checking off the boxes” really motivates me. Enter coloring projects, where you color one piece of your picture for every time you make a small step toward your goal. …

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